


a brief monologue

by chardes



Category: Suikoden III
Genre: Gen, Major Spoilers, Rune-angst, first-person pov, nameless narrator - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2015-08-21
Packaged: 2018-04-16 11:39:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4624017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chardes/pseuds/chardes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Freed of my obligations, I intended to follow his adventure to the end-- a journey not entirely unexpected, but one that pained my heart so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a brief monologue

The skies in the far west shone one night, the familiar glittering of stardust converging on barren lands. Unbeknownst to the few who resided in the castle nearby, I-- and from the traces of crushed grass scattered across the fields, others-- visited this innocent spot, the implications of the stone monument before us known only to far too few.

Like the decades past, I caught myself wordlessly gazing at the flakes of granite loosening itself into the winds, the trail they left behind revealing a steady alphabet. Two. Three. Soon, I knew, it would be populated by names of the final actors for this unnecessary play.

I wasn’t turning a blind eye.

Though I may feign impartiality, I knew truly that I felt otherwise. His last words haunted me so. Freed of my obligations, I intended to follow his adventure to the end-- a journey not entirely unexpected, but one that pained my heart so.

It was beyond my wildest dreams to be so shaken after many years of hardship, almost believing that I hardened to stone.

 

=====

 

I barely had to stay long in the tavern to get what I needed. Excited chatter-- between overexaggerated historical plays-- yielded the location of their enemy, allowing me ample time to make good use of their headquarters’ facilities.

Wisely, I avoided the runemaster’s, knowing fully well who would be there in greeting.

A child tugged at my cloak as I tried to leave, flailing as she did about the dangers of the outside world. I smiled gently in return, pointing out that the feathers on her helmet were ruffled.

I was gone before she could give me a second look.

 

=====

 

I thought I would’ve been used to Sindarian ruins by now, but surprisingly, I still am not. Braving the foul smell of molded vegetation and dry cobble, I was rewarded with a glimpse of what I, retrospectively, would rather have _not_ to have witnessed.

Even the deplorable artificial frost did little to comfort the chill growing in my bosom, as I have just witnessed what will become of myself if I were to lose my own tether to this forsaken realm.

 

=====

 

The venerable army, though blessed by the stars, was graced with a redhead strategist that would shame all of his predecessors. One after another, I watched them spread their rune bearers thinner, and on separate ways-- and surely enough, it came with disastrous consequences.

It was perhaps the sheer hand of fate that I was there, following the youngest of the new bearers, to witness his enemy’s grandeur speech.

Was he talking about me... ?

 

=====

 

The weary army rested, and so did I; yet, my mind refused to release its grip on the words that echoed ever since. In my own weariness, I was already caught by a familiar face.

I didn’t wait for her to finish wiping her glasses before I disappeared from sight.

 

=====

 

The dilapidated castle became unbearable immediately when I spotted a familiar dragon knight. Pride initially swelled in my throat at the size of his new steed, while faintly recalling the man being nothing but a child, arguing with a dear friend over trivial matters in an era long past.

Our flight to an isolated island.

Our first meeting with a mage of the wind, apprentice to the master of constellations.

The very same mage who now wished for destruction.

 

======

 

I jokingly suggested to myself to maybe offer my own accursed rune to him.

Then, like the sick joke I made, I was bluntly reminded that I would cease to exist, with not even a body to be remembered by.

 

======

 

I smirked, watching the mage’s irritation at children feebly defending his twin.

_This child is actually much better at keeping an army together than me and the other combined._

My eyes crept back to the vagrant, watching his face seethe in rage as another rune was recovered from his little band of misfits. Such irony, huh?

 

======

 

An empty world. A desolate world.

Hearing Luc’s speech-- he sure has taken to that recently-- reminded me that I, too, shared the fate of immortality-- that I was never alone in this twisted world.

The end where the spectrum of grey shall claim Gregminster is still horrifyingly real. Yet, no one knew what to do with such disturbing revelations. A despondent Sierra Mikain had merely shrugged-- life went on, regardless of whether one was graciously blessed by a True Rune or not.

All of a sudden, I remembered that I was only human.

Days spent as a delinquent son of a general, leading my own band of misfits housed in the middle of a lake, were memories dear enough to me, yet were slowly fading. In those fleeting moments darting between the careful watch of a bodyguard and juggling the role of an army commander, I have confided many times with an aloof boy standing stiffly by a stone tablet, bound by nothing beyond the sheer duty to guard that dumb piece of masonry.

Then I saw him again, in a different place, under a different leadership. My heart only ached even worse.

Luc... Is this really what you wish for, after all I have told you?

 

======

 

Disappointing though it was, I bear no resent for your actions.

Thinking back, if I hadn’t made my grievances to you over the years, I myself could easily have filled your shoes. My regret was that I never inquired into your own past, nor considered the ramifications of my selfish desires for an empathic listening ear.

I’m sure your other leader would have told you the same thing, though, given the number of nights he had tried to strike a conversation with you. Perhaps it really was destiny that led you to this end.

But hey, at least you gained yourself a cute little apprentice. Your journey from here on won’t be as lonely, at least.

 

... But I forgive you. We all do.

 


End file.
